Hey folks, welcome to the mailroom! If you’re diving into Cat Mail Company like I did, that first pile of unsorted packages can feel overwhelming.
Don’t sweat it, I’ve played through the tutorial and early days, and here’s your real guide to turning that messy post office into a well-oiled (and adorable) delivery machine so your package return rate drops the most.
What You’ll Read:
Getting Started & Core Loop
This is simple but might be helpful in the early game: Use WASD to move, Space to jump, Shift to sprint. Right-click to rotate parcels so names face you. Tab for quick placement.
The core loop? Serve counter customers (Cat’s Island parcels), scan and stamp outgoing ones, organize, then load the boat when the captain arrives at dusk. Time advances with happy customers, so try to be a good postcat.
Key Challenges & Smart Solutions
Just like Arcane Library or Supermarket Chaos, this game is all about managing some items. Here we call these items parcels (packages). They are unsorted and massive, need stamps, sometimes heavy and fragile and should be delivered to the boat.
While it can feel overwhelming at first, games like this are designed to be relaxing once you get the hang of it.
The Massive Unsorted Pile
This is everyone’s biggest headache early on.
Fix: Sort by destination first (Cat’s Island stays local, others go to Port Windy or Sunny Shores). Use shelves/cubbies for small boxes and floor space for big or tall ones. Keep names visible. The pile shrinks as you progress and unlock rooms.
Scanning, Weight & Stamps
I guess that new players often mess up the number of stamps or constraints. Just like myself when I first started the game.
Fix: Always scan customer parcels to prevent mistakes. Match destination + weight (check the board: blue = 4 stamps, yellow = 2, green = 1, etc.). If a parcel is fragile put nothing on its top. If it’s heavy, put nothing underneath. Packages will be damaged if you don’t do so.
Boat Loading & Captain Runs
Overloading or wrong destinations lead to returns and damage.
Fix: Stage Port Windy parcels near the dock and load heavy items at the bottom. Ring the bell when ready. The more you ship correctly, the faster you fill the progress bar and unlock new rooms.
Lover Parcels
Other challenging parcels for players are the lover ones. The hint about them is that you should send them together.
How do you identify Lover Parcels? Place them under the Moon Device. It will reveal them.
Why Parcels Get Returned
Returning Parcels is not completely bad. When they come back, they usually have a note on them or an obvious damage, after a while this help you learn the patterns.
Anyway you want to prevent it, so I’ll help. From what I and other players have experienced, returns usually happen for one of these reasons:
Wrong Destination
The captain only takes parcels for his route. Although sometimes he has multiple destinations. Anyway if you load the boat with the packages of other destinations, they will return.
So always double-check the stamp or label before loading. Keep separate staging areas, one shelf for local Cat’s Island stuff, another clearly marked for the captain’s route.
Here’s another useful tip: As soon as you see the captain, separate everything going out. This prevents mixing up local vs. outgoing.
Cold Storage Parcels on the Boat
Yes, this is a big one! Cold packages must stay in the freezer until the right time. Leaving them out or trying to ship them without proper handling damages them overnight or gets them returned.
If something needs cold storage, move it to the freezer immediately. Only ship non-cold items unless the captain specifically requests something chilled later.
Fragile or Heavy Violations
Fragile packages with stuff stacked on top, or heavy ones crushing things underneath, get damaged during the trip.
Load heavy at the bottom, fragile on top with nothing above them. The red indicator when placing usually warns you.
Tip: You can put a fragile package on top of another fragile package. Just use the red indicator as final judge and take it serious.
Missing or Wrong Stamps
Always weigh and stamp after scanning. The weight board tells you exactly how many are needed. Use the correct destination stamp every time. If you do it wrong, parcels will return.
